Science in the Afternoon

Materials Technology Is the Key to the Next Century, Engineer Gronsky
Tells Alumni

by Robert Sanders

A group of long-time alumni succumbed to the enthusiasm of
engineering's Ron Gronsky April 25 as he regaled them with the wondrous
achievements of materials science, concluding with a glimpse into the future
and a brief plug for the campus's ambitious New Materials Initiative.

Gronsky, chair of materials science and mineral engineering, was the last of
three speakers in the "Cal in the Afternoon" series sponsored by the California
Alumni Association.

Gronsky carried the audience through a difficult subject with a breathless
delivery that convinced the house that new materials research was the key to
the next century.

Today, he said, such research has provided us with better, cheaper materials
than ever before, ranging from the advanced titanium alloy that makes the new
Boeing 777 both light and strong, to new solid lubricants that can withstand
the extremes of space.

The future holds even more surprises as still better techniques arrive for
looking at and manipulating materials down to the level of the atom--techniques
with names such as holographic reconstruction, nanophase processing and
biomimetic processing.

"We can control how things go together and engineer these materials for new
applications," he said. "We've reached the point where we can engineer
materials one atom at a time."

He touted some of the work at Berkeley, like that of physicists Marvin Cohen
and Alex Zettl, which will provide the groundwork for new materials
applications in the 21st century. They and Gronsky are among the 90 faculty who
have banded together in the New Materials Initiative, a priority of the
upcoming fund-raising campaign.

He concluded his whirlwind tour with a plea for the Hearst Memorial Mining
Building, which needs a major seismic retrofit to make it a safe home for
Gronsky's department.

With the help of alumni, the College of Engineering hopes to raise $28 million
to add to state funds made available through the recent passage of Proposition
203.